Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Phylogenetic reconstruction of South American felids defined by protein electrophoresis

  • Published:
Journal of Molecular Evolution Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Phylogenetic associations among six closely related South American felid species were defined by changes in protein-encoding gene loci. We analyzed proteins isolated from skin fibroblasts using two-dimensional electrophoresis and allozymes extracted from blood cells. Genotypes were determined for multiple individuals of ocelot, margay, tigrina, Geoffroy's cat, kodkod, and pampas cat at 548 loci resolved by two-dimensional electrophoresis and 44 allozyme loci. Phenograms were constructed using the methods of Fitch-Margoliash and neighbor-joining on a matrix of Nei's unbiased genetic distances for all pairs of species. Results of a relative-rate test indicate changes in two-dimensional electrophoresis data are constant among all South American felids with respect to a hyena outgroup. Allelic frequencies were transformed to discrete character states for maximum parsimony analysis. Phylogenetic reconstruction indicates a major split occurred approximately 5–6 million years ago, leading to three groups within the ocelot lineage. The earliest divergence led to Leopardus tigrina, followed by a split between an ancestor of an unresolved trichotomy of three species (Oncifelis guigna, O. geoffroyi, and Lynchaduris colocolo) and a recent common ancestor of Leopardus pardalis and L. wiedii. The results suggest that modern South American felids are monophyletic and evolved rapidly after the formation of the Panama land bridge between North and South America.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adams EN III (1972) Consensus techniques and the comparison of taxonomic trees. Syst Zool 21:390–397

    Google Scholar 

  • Avise JC, Aquadro CF (1981) A comparative summary of genetic distance in vertebrates. Evol Biol 14:114–126

    Google Scholar 

  • Benveniste RE (1985) The contributions of retroviruses to the study of mammalian evolution. In: MacIntyre RJ (ed) Molecular evolutionary genetics. Plenum Press, New York, pp 359–417

    Google Scholar 

  • Berta A (1983) A new species of small cat (Felidae) from the late Pliocene-early Pleistocene Uquian of Argentina. J Mammal 64: 720–725

    Google Scholar 

  • Clutton-Brock J (1987) A natural history of domesticated animals. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England

    Google Scholar 

  • Collier GE, O'Brien SJ (1985) A molecular phylogeny of the Felidae: immunological distance. Evolution 39:473–487

    Google Scholar 

  • Dayhoff MO (1978) Survey of new data and computer methods of analysis. In: Dayhoff MO (ed) Atlas of protein sequence and structure, vol 5. Natl Biomed Res Found, Silver Springs, MD, pp 41–45

    Google Scholar 

  • Ewer RF (1973) The carnivores. Cornell University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Felsenstein J (1991) PHYLIP—phylogeny inference package (version 3.4). University of Washington, Seattle, WA

    Google Scholar 

  • Ficcarelli G (1984) The Villafranchian cheetahs from Tuscany and remarks on the dispersal and evolution of the genus Acinonyx. Palaeontographia Italica 73:94–103

    Google Scholar 

  • Glass GE, Martin LD (1978) A multivariate comparison of some extant and fossil Felidae, Carnivora. Carnivore 1:80–88

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldman D, Giri PR, O'Brien SJ (1987) A molecular phylogeny of the hominoid primates as indicated by two-dimensional protein electrophoresis. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 84:3307–3311

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldman D, Giri PR, O'Brien SJ (1989) Molecular genetic-distance estimates among the Ursidae as indicated by one- and two-dimensional protein electrophoresis. Evolution 43:282–295

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldman D, O'Brien SJ (1993) Two-dimensional protein electrophoresis in phylogenetic studies. In: Zimmer EA, White TJ, Cann RL, Wilson AC (eds) Molecular evolution: producing the biochemical data. Methods in enzymology, vol 224:113–121

  • Hemmer H (1978) The evolutionary systematics of living Felidae: present status and current problems. Carnivore 1:71–79

    Google Scholar 

  • Janczewski DN (1992) Phylogenetic relationships of the great cats based on mitochondrial DNA sequence analysis. PhD dissertation, Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park, MD

    Google Scholar 

  • Janczewski DN, Goldman D, O'Brien SJ (1990) Molecular divergence and variation of orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) based on isozyme and two-dimensional electrophoresis. J Hered 81:375–387

    Google Scholar 

  • Kurten B (1976) Fossil puma (Mammalia: Felidae) in North America. Neth J Zool 26:502–534

    Google Scholar 

  • Kurten B (1968) Pleistocene mammals of Europe. Aldine, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • Kurten B, Anderson E (1980) Pleistocene mammals of North America. Columbia University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Leyhausen P (1979) Cat behavior. Garland Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Li W-H, Wu C-I, Luo C-C (1985) A new method for estimating synonymous and nonsynonymous rates of nucleotide substitution considering the relative likelihood of nucleotide and codon changes. Mol Biol Evol 2:150–174

    Google Scholar 

  • McAlpine PJ, Shows TB, Miller RL, Pakstis AJ (1985) The 1985 catalog of mapped genes and report of the nomenclature committee. Eighth International Workshop on Human Gene Mapping. Cytogenet Cell Genet 40:8–66

    Google Scholar 

  • Margush T, McMorris FR (1981) Consensus n-trees. Bull Math Biol 43:239–244

    Google Scholar 

  • Martin LD (1989) Fossil history of the terrestrial Carnivora. In: Gittleman JL (ed) Carnivore behavior, ecology and evolution. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY

    Google Scholar 

  • Menotti-Raymond M, O'Brien SJ (1993) Dating the genetic bottleneck of the African cheetah. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 90:3172–3176

    Google Scholar 

  • Millipore Corp (1991) Investigator 2 D electrophoresis system. Publication 17957.

  • Modi W, O'Brien SJ (1988) Quantitative cladistic analysis of chromosomal banding among species in three orders of mammals: hominoid primates, felids and arvicolid rodents. In: Gustafson JP, Appels R (eds) Chromosome structure and function. Plenum Press, New York, pp 215–242

    Google Scholar 

  • Nei M (1978) Estimation of average heterozygosity and genetic distance from a small number of individuals. Genetics 89:583–590

    Google Scholar 

  • Nei M (1987) Molecular evolutionary genetics. Columbia University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Nei M, Stephens JC, Saitou N (1985) Methods for computing the standard errors of branching points in an evolutionary tree and their application to molecular data from humans and apes. Mol Biol Evol 2:66–85

    Google Scholar 

  • Nowak RM (1991) Walker's Mammals of the world, 5th ed. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD

    Google Scholar 

  • O'Brien SJ, Collier GE, Benveniste RE, Nash WG, Newman AK, Simonson JM, Eichelberger MA, Seal US, Bush M, Wildt DE (1987) Setting the molecular clock in the Felidae: the great cats, panthera. In: Tilson RL (ed) Tigers of the world. Noyes Publications, Park Ridge, NJ, pp 10–27

    Google Scholar 

  • O'Brien SJ, Martenson IS, Eichelberger MA, Thorne ET, Wright FW (1989) Genetic variation and molecular systematics of the black-footed ferret. In: Seal US, Thorne ET, Bogan MA, Anderson SH (eds) Conservation biology and the black-footed ferret. Yale University Press, New Haven, pp 21–23

    Google Scholar 

  • O'Brien SJ, Nash WG, Wildt DE, Bush M, Benveniste RE (1985) A molecular solution to the riddle of the giant panda's phylogeny. Nature 317:140–144

    Google Scholar 

  • O'Brien SJ, Wildt DE, Goldman D, Merril CR, Bush M (1983) The cheetah is depauperate in genetic variation. Science 221:459–462

    Google Scholar 

  • Pamilio P, Nei M (1988) Relationships between gene trees and species trees. Mol Biol Evol 5:568–583

    Google Scholar 

  • Patterson B, Pascual R (1972) The fossil mammal fauna of South America. In: Keast A, Erk C, Glass B (eds) Evolution, mammals and southern continents. State University of New York Press, Albany, NY pp 247–309

    Google Scholar 

  • Rogers JS (1984) Deriving phylogenetic trees from allele frequencies. Syst Zool 33:52–63

    Google Scholar 

  • Savage DE, Russell DE (1983) Mammalian paleofaunas of the world. Addison-Wesley, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Sokal RR, Rohlf FJ (1981) Taxonomic congruence in the Leptopodomorpha reexamined. Syst Zool 30:309–325

    Google Scholar 

  • Swofford DL (1991) PAUP, phylogenetic analysis using parsimony, version 3.0. Illinois Natural History Survey, Champaign, IL

    Google Scholar 

  • Swofford DL, Selander RK (1981) Biosys-1: a Fortran program for the comprehensive analysis of electrophoretic data in population genetics and systematics. J Hered 72:281–283

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner A (1985) Extinction, speciation, and dispersal in African larger Carnivores from the late Miocene to recent. S Afr J Sci 81:256–257

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner A (1987) New fossil carnivore remains from the Strekfontein hominid site (Mammalia: Carnivora). Ann Transvaal Museum 34:319–347

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Valkenburgh B, Grady F, Kurten B (1990) The Plio-Pleistocene cheetah-like cat Miracinonyx inexpectatus of North America. J Vert Paleontol 10:434–454

    Google Scholar 

  • Wayne RK, Benveniste RE, Janczewski DN, O'Brien SJ (1989) Molecular and biochemical evolution of the Carnivora. In Gittleman JL (ed) Carnivore behavior, ecology and evolution. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, pp 465–494

    Google Scholar 

  • Wayne RK, O'Brien SJ (1987) Allozyme divergence within the Canidae. Sys Zool 36:339–355

    Google Scholar 

  • Wayne RK, Van Valkenburgh B, O'Brien SJ (1991) Molecular distance and divergence time in carnivores and primates. Mol Biol Evol 8:297–319

    Google Scholar 

  • Werdelin L (1985) Small Pleistocene felines of North America. J Vert Paleontol 5:94–210

    Google Scholar 

  • Wu C-I (1991) Inferences of species phylogeny in relation to segregation of ancient polymorphisms. Genetics 127:429–435

    Google Scholar 

  • Wurster-Hill DH, Centerwall WR (1982) The interrelationships of chromosome banding pattern in canids, mustelids, hyena and felids. Cytogenet Cell Genet 34:178–192

    Google Scholar 

  • Zuckerkandl E, Pauling L (1962) Molecular disease, evolution and genic heterogeneity. In Kasha M, Pullman B (eds) Horizons in biochemistry. Academic Press, NY, pp 189–225

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Viral Carcinogenesis, National Cancer Institute, 21702, Frederick, MD, USA

    J. Pecon Slattery & S.J. O'Brien

  2. Program Resources Inc./Dyncorp, 21702, Frederick, MD, USA

    W.E. Johnson

  3. National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Laboratory of Clinical Studies, 20892, Bethesda, MD, USA

    D. Goldman

Authors
  1. J. Pecon Slattery
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. W.E. Johnson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. D. Goldman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. S.J. O'Brien
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Additional information

Correspondence to: J. Pecon Slattery

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Pecon Slattery, J., Johnson, W., Goldman, D. et al. Phylogenetic reconstruction of South American felids defined by protein electrophoresis. J Mol Evol 39, 296–305 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00160153

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00160153

Key words

Search

Navigation